Resideo Makes Smart Home Products You Didn't Know Existed

October 30, 2018

6mo ago

By Carlo Versano

You may have a Resideo product in your home and not even know it.

The company, until this week a unit of Honeywell ($HON), makes products that are in over 150 million homes, but because it sells largely to contractors and distributors, it is not a brand many end users recognize.

Now, as its own company, Resideo ($REZI) can compete on its own terms, and at the speed required in a fast-moving and ultra-competitive industry. "Being an independent company is going to help us go faster," said CEO Mike Nefkens.

In an interview on Cheddar, Nefkens outlined Resideo's core business, which consists of an 80/20 split between products for renovations and new homes, respectively. From security to wiring, sensors, smart HVAC, and leak detection, "we own the behind-the-wall stuff," he said.

To exemplify that, as part of its inaugural week as a public company, Resideo built a "tiny home" outside the New York Stock Exchange to show off some of those technologies. (Resideo is one of Cheddar's sponsorship partners.)

The project exemplifies how Resideo is "connecting the core of the home," not just making one-off devices like internet-connected thermostats or smart speakers, Nefkens said.

Resideo's core customer is what he calls the "do-it-for-me" consumer ー homeowners who will hire a contractor to retrofit their homes with the latest technology, or builders integrating it from the starting point of new construction. Ninety-five percent of the business is through that "pro channel," rather than a D-I-Y customer, according to the CEO.

Because it manufactures in Mexico and Europe and has a light footprint in Asia, Nefkens said he isn't concerned with the escalating trade war with China ー and, in fact, tariffs are giving Resideo a competitive advantage.

Still, it's been a tough year for companies exposed to the residential real estate market ー with interest rates rising, home affordability has been on the decline, and shares of homebuilders like Toll Brothers ($TOL), Lennar ($LEN), KB Home ($KBH), and D.R. Horton ($DHI) are all down more than 30 percent this year. Shares of Resideo were down about 15 percent midday.

Resideo will continue using the Honeywell Home brand under a licensing agreement for the foreseeable future. He said the company's long-term goal is to get its end-to-end products "into the mortgage of the home."